They can't even if they want. They don't even have enough stocks to sell now.
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NoFrag: People don't care about Half-Life anymore
- Thread starter UnluckyKate
- Start date
They can't even if they want. They don't even have enough stocks to sell now.
User warned: Hostility towards another member
Well, congrats for being rich I guess.
I must confess the fire in my heart has faded at this point...if 5 years ago valve announced and showed a game play trailer for HL3 I would have been majorly hyped and would probably be desperately replaying through orange box getting a firm seat on the hype train, but i feel nothing looking at HL:A and that makes me a little sad
I care.
I have a few thoughts on this.
First, Half-Life Franchise in terms of overall popularity might not have been that big to begin with when you compare it numbers wise to some of the bigger console franchises. The game has always pushed new tech and new ideas. The multiplayer games it spawned are still the most played games on the planet. (Team Fortress and Counter-Strike)
Second, I'm glad they make what they want to make. Making the next Half-Life a AAA VR only is a bold move but someone in the industry had to do it. Valve doing it makes sense considering their history with pushing boundaries.
Third, those of you who want a traditional Half-Life game will want Alyx to do well for future titles to be considered.
Final thought. I hate the way VR gaming is treated on Era. I understand that it's not for everyone and thats fine. It's incredibly frustrating to still see the same falsities about the platform echoed over and over again. If the same amount of bogus information about a console was spewed by some users here, they would be flagged for platform warring.
I have a few thoughts on this.
First, Half-Life Franchise in terms of overall popularity might not have been that big to begin with when you compare it numbers wise to some of the bigger console franchises. The game has always pushed new tech and new ideas. The multiplayer games it spawned are still the most played games on the planet. (Team Fortress and Counter-Strike)
Second, I'm glad they make what they want to make. Making the next Half-Life a AAA VR only is a bold move but someone in the industry had to do it. Valve doing it makes sense considering their history with pushing boundaries.
Third, those of you who want a traditional Half-Life game will want Alyx to do well for future titles to be considered.
Final thought. I hate the way VR gaming is treated on Era. I understand that it's not for everyone and thats fine. It's incredibly frustrating to still see the same falsities about the platform echoed over and over again. If the same amount of bogus information about a console was spewed by some users here, they would be flagged for platform warring.
I love HL, but knowing it's VR I haven't even seen the new gameplay footage because I know I won't play it. It's because of VR plain and simple.
What are you struggling with?
The information that person presented is wrong overall, and the second hand market is perfectly viable.
Issue?
And thank god for that.
Half-Life is nice and all but some people take it too far with this series.
Half-Life is nice and all but some people take it too far with this series.
I don't think Valve really cares about Half-Life either, at least not the in the way fans want them to. A VR-exclusive prequel 11 years after episode 3 was promised? Nothing about that appeals to me, and used to adore those games. We've done City-17 3 times now.
I'm pretty sure Eurogamer is much more informed on this subject and device availability and pricing in Europe than some random forum people. None of you even provided any arguments, or links where Europeans could buy such device at reasonable price, just driveby responses.
So yeah, my post is still truth. Just VR pricing apologists in action. True cost of entry for decent VR experience seems to be in 450 euro ballpark.
The responses to our videos on HL Alyx or Black Mesa do better than things like the FF7 remastering.
People care about HL.
This topic seems really oddly slanted.
People care about HL.
This topic seems really oddly slanted.
Black Mesa (the fan remake of HL1) released last week after 14 years of development and became the global #1 top seller on Steam. So ... no?
Your Google trends charts are flawed because for example the HALO franchise is always just the search tearm HALO while Half-Life is either "Half-Life", "Half Life", "HL" or "HL2". Which means that people that search for "Half Life: Alyx" instead of "HL: Alyx" are not counted in your chart.
Your Google trends charts are flawed because for example the HALO franchise is always just the search tearm HALO while Half-Life is either "Half-Life", "Half Life", "HL" or "HL2". Which means that people that search for "Half Life: Alyx" instead of "HL: Alyx" are not counted in your chart.
I tend to agree. It's great that they're revisiting the universe but a VR only title is still pretty niche and the Half Life hype has long been gone.
Of course there are still a lot of vocal fans out there but the casual gamer probably won't care about it very much.
Of course there are still a lot of vocal fans out there but the casual gamer probably won't care about it very much.
How could anyone ever afford such an expense! No wonder TVs are dead.
For me im intrested in a proper Half Life 3, or reboot traditional fps. I have no intrest in VR, its good tech yes, but for me to give it ago is enough. I prefer a normal fps gaming experiance, plus the need to buy even more hardware is a no go for myself and many others.
I am a huge Half-life fan and you're right. Just look at the Half-Life subreddit, you'd expect thousands of concurrent users on the page especially now that we got tons of gameplay and exciting footage for Alyx. I mean it's a new Half-Life game, even if you don't like VR you'd still join the discussion as long as you're a Half-Life fan, right?
Nope, only 800 to 900 of concurrent users on average. It's just sad.
There're more people on r/Bloodborne right now than r/HalfLife, what the f*ck.
Half-Life 3 joke aside the public just don't care about the franchise anymore, only the hardcore fans still remains.
Nope, only 800 to 900 of concurrent users on average. It's just sad.
There're more people on r/Bloodborne right now than r/HalfLife, what the f*ck.
Half-Life 3 joke aside the public just don't care about the franchise anymore, only the hardcore fans still remains.
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These are retail prices. They do go on sale very often. Some of the lower priced options are still really good headsets.
Even that artice says:
- Finally, Windows Mixed Reality headsets are often (but not always) the cheapest option; I picked up one for £150 last Black Friday. Tracking is good and visuals are pretty strong too, though the controllers are a bit bulky. Unfortunately, stock levels are low so it can be hard to find one of these headsets at a suitably low price.
The main problem of VR headsets right now is availability, which somehow started to become a problem once HL:A was announced. Totally unrelated for a game with no hype.
That article was written by a single person.
You need to look into this more. You also need to read the article properly, lol.
Oh fuck that. The headset was 450€, I work, I saved some money and bought it. That has nothing to do with being "rich".
This seems like way too early to make a call about this with the game not even being out yet. Valve Indexes are flying off the shelves right now in preparation, to the point where Valve actually had to put out notifications on Twitter saying when they would be back in stock.
Is the game going to sell as much as a flat-screen game? No, probably not, given VR's barrier to entry. Saying "people don't care about Half-Life" is hardly accurate when the new game is not even out yet.
Clearly not the case, as Half-Life Alyx alone has caused VR headsets to sell out, especially the Index.
Is the game going to sell as much as a flat-screen game? No, probably not, given VR's barrier to entry. Saying "people don't care about Half-Life" is hardly accurate when the new game is not even out yet.
Clearly not the case, as Half-Life Alyx alone has caused VR headsets to sell out, especially the Index.
Yep, this.
That can happen when the franchise goes silent for 13 years despite being vastly popular and a certified moneymaker, and despite the last episode of the game ending on a ridiculous (quite literal) cliffhanger.
Half-Life 2 (and its Episodes, HL1, etc.) have to this day a fond spot in my heart, incredible memories are attached to it. And while the games are still fun to this day, since then we had games like Modern Warfare, Bioshock, Titanfall, Doom 2016. Back then, Half-Life 2's oppressive yet fascinating City 17 is great to this day, but excellent open world designs showcased in games like GTA V, Watch_Dogs 2 or the recent Assassin's Creed titles don't make it that impressive anymore. The unprecedented character animations for the day have been blown away by many other games since. It's hard to go back to those games and not feel that the time went by, even though I still largely enjoy playing them.
In 2020 the franchise is back. It's not even a sequel but a prequel. It's VR, so it's automatically more niche than the last release of the franchise which was on PC, X360 and PS3 alike (didn't require VR and even on PC it ran on potato PCs as well). And it's back to City 17, a place many expected would have been gone and forgotten by now. As impactful as it was back then, it just doesn't feel fresh anymore.
And that's, imho, one of the biggest issues with Alyx. It's a product that people would have lost their shit over 10 years ago probably. But the market changed, expectations changed, and a "let's explore more of that Half-Life 2 lore but in VR" is just not that exciting for many. It is for hardcore fans. But whereas Doom 2016 was an exciting new formula regardless of what you thought of past Dooms or if you've ever even played them, this new game feels like a decade late fan service for a niche market to begin with.
I have no doubts it's gonna be a great game. Hell, there's solid chances it's gonna be the most ambitious and best VR game so far. But as ambitious as the tech is, it's a prequel to a franchise that disappeared the face of the Earth, pissing off a lot of fans in the process, and it can only be played on expensive PCs with expensive VR sets. Only aiming at hardcore Half-Life fans and VR enthusiasts with plenty of disposable income means the game will remain relatively niche, hence the little interest by the mass public. Again, Doom 2016 proves that you can absolutely take an old FPS, refresh it and people can still lose their minds over it. This VR game is not something most fans will be satisfied with because I'd say most fans can't even play it for a variety of reasons.
I do hope the game is successful and Valve starts working on a full-blown, no bullshit Half-Life 3. And this time I would love if they evolved again like they did from Half-Life 1 to 2, where completely new places, faces and scenarios awaited the players. In 2024 or whenever such a game would come out, 20 years after being blown away from Half-Life 2's locations and characters, I would want to play something new.
Half-Life 2 (and its Episodes, HL1, etc.) have to this day a fond spot in my heart, incredible memories are attached to it. And while the games are still fun to this day, since then we had games like Modern Warfare, Bioshock, Titanfall, Doom 2016. Back then, Half-Life 2's oppressive yet fascinating City 17 is great to this day, but excellent open world designs showcased in games like GTA V, Watch_Dogs 2 or the recent Assassin's Creed titles don't make it that impressive anymore. The unprecedented character animations for the day have been blown away by many other games since. It's hard to go back to those games and not feel that the time went by, even though I still largely enjoy playing them.
In 2020 the franchise is back. It's not even a sequel but a prequel. It's VR, so it's automatically more niche than the last release of the franchise which was on PC, X360 and PS3 alike (didn't require VR and even on PC it ran on potato PCs as well). And it's back to City 17, a place many expected would have been gone and forgotten by now. As impactful as it was back then, it just doesn't feel fresh anymore.
And that's, imho, one of the biggest issues with Alyx. It's a product that people would have lost their shit over 10 years ago probably. But the market changed, expectations changed, and a "let's explore more of that Half-Life 2 lore but in VR" is just not that exciting for many. It is for hardcore fans. But whereas Doom 2016 was an exciting new formula regardless of what you thought of past Dooms or if you've ever even played them, this new game feels like a decade late fan service for a niche market to begin with.
I have no doubts it's gonna be a great game. Hell, there's solid chances it's gonna be the most ambitious and best VR game so far. But as ambitious as the tech is, it's a prequel to a franchise that disappeared the face of the Earth, pissing off a lot of fans in the process, and it can only be played on expensive PCs with expensive VR sets. Only aiming at hardcore Half-Life fans and VR enthusiasts with plenty of disposable income means the game will remain relatively niche, hence the little interest by the mass public. Again, Doom 2016 proves that you can absolutely take an old FPS, refresh it and people can still lose their minds over it. This VR game is not something most fans will be satisfied with because I'd say most fans can't even play it for a variety of reasons.
I do hope the game is successful and Valve starts working on a full-blown, no bullshit Half-Life 3. And this time I would love if they evolved again like they did from Half-Life 1 to 2, where completely new places, faces and scenarios awaited the players. In 2024 or whenever such a game would come out, 20 years after being blown away from Half-Life 2's locations and characters, I would want to play something new.
Games should reach it's max popularity right after release, not before. A franchise were the announcement of a game generate more attention than it's release is garbage.
Let's hope valve care more about a game being great even if mean not everyone can play it.
I think this game is actually going to have tremendous legs as the install base for VR grows and people slowly see what amazing things you can do in the game via Let's Plays and Twitch streams. I also agree that Half Life as a brand has stagnated a bit outside of the PC space and isn't a name that younger gamers have much (if any) familiarity with. It wouldn't surprise me if this ends up being many people's entry point into Half Life as a series.
It probably has more to do with it being VR only imo.
Look what DOOM has done and it was away for almost as long as HL.
Valve should have fully remade HL with PS4/XB1 level visuals and released it across the three platforms ala DOOM 2016 (I know about the fan made game).
A Remake of 2 aswell as the episodes would have built a much better audience for the new VR game but I'm sure it will still sell alright relative to other VR games.
Look what DOOM has done and it was away for almost as long as HL.
Valve should have fully remade HL with PS4/XB1 level visuals and released it across the three platforms ala DOOM 2016 (I know about the fan made game).
A Remake of 2 aswell as the episodes would have built a much better audience for the new VR game but I'm sure it will still sell alright relative to other VR games.
It's not that I don't care, it just doesn't make any practical or financial sense to build a PC and get a VR headset just to play the latest entry 13 years after the last one.
I'd argue that Half-Life never was super popular to begin with. It was a major gaming milestone (I know, I was there) but being a PC game means it didn't reach as many people as CoD/Halo/whatever other multi-platform FPS.
That being said, I know I'm probaably in the minority around here (yet probably in the majority out there), but I firmly believe there's such a thing as expiration dates for series. Like I would have bought Shenmue 3 day one no questions asked 15 years ago. Right now? I loved the games back in the day but I moved on. And I suspect it's probably the same for Half-Life. As much as I criticized Half-Life 2 I'd probably have bought Half-Life games like an Episode 3 if it was released not too long after Episode 2. But right now? Don't care.
Of course being VR-exclusive definitely doesn't help, but I'm pretty sure we're now at a time where most people simply moved on even if they still have fond memories of it, and only a few hardcore fans will rush to play it.
That being said, I know I'm probaably in the minority around here (yet probably in the majority out there), but I firmly believe there's such a thing as expiration dates for series. Like I would have bought Shenmue 3 day one no questions asked 15 years ago. Right now? I loved the games back in the day but I moved on. And I suspect it's probably the same for Half-Life. As much as I criticized Half-Life 2 I'd probably have bought Half-Life games like an Episode 3 if it was released not too long after Episode 2. But right now? Don't care.
Of course being VR-exclusive definitely doesn't help, but I'm pretty sure we're now at a time where most people simply moved on even if they still have fond memories of it, and only a few hardcore fans will rush to play it.
Is it normal to make this much money working retail in NA? I'm asking because my brother is currently full time working as a shift manager for a grocery store while finishing up his degree and he makes ~9k(€)/year.
$14.75 a hour working night crew. That's low end, if I would have moved to grocery I would have been pulling down $20+ a hour.
Two possible factors:
A) It's a VR game which is a turn off to many even the fans
B) They haven't released an entry since 13 years ago
A) It's a VR game which is a turn off to many even the fans
B) They haven't released an entry since 13 years ago
nothing odd about it. its era talking about a game thats only on pc and only vr.
I mean, HL2 Ep 2 is 13 years old. That are 2 console gens, of course todays yound crowd doesn't know what Half Life is and why should they even care?
Alyx looks and sounds cool, but VR is such a big financial hurdle, that it will propably end up as a niche game.
And it didn't help that we never got Episode 3 nor a third game after all those years
Alyx looks and sounds cool, but VR is such a big financial hurdle, that it will propably end up as a niche game.
And it didn't help that we never got Episode 3 nor a third game after all those years
